For the first time, an infant was placed in a so-called baby box in Kentucky. It remained there for less than 90 seconds.
An infant was secretly placed in a “baby box” in Kentucky in the USA.
“For the first time, an infant has been anonymously dropped off in one of the Safe Haven Baby Boxes in Kentucky,” Monica Kelsey, founder and director of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, said in a press conference on Friday.
The baby was anonymously placed in the box sometime during the last seven days, and Kelsey, for the sake of the parent’s anonymity, will not be specifically present at the time of handover.
– This baby is healthy, this baby is beautiful, this baby is perfect, Kelsey continues.
Picked up quickly
The baby box is placed in the wall of the fire station of the Bowling Green fire department. The box had been in operation for less than 2 months.
According to the AP news agency, the baby was taken care of by those at the fire station within 90 seconds.
It is now working to place the baby with adoptive parents.
The baby in Kentucky is the 24th child to be cared for after being handed over through the more than 130 baby boxes located around nine states in the United States.
In Kentucky, there are 16 such boxes.
This is how the box works
Baby boxes are being adopted as a result of Gov. Andy Beshear signing a law in 2021 that allows the use of such boxes for children younger than 30 days.
The law requires the baby boxes to be located at police stations, fire stations or hospitals that are manned 24 hours a day.
A notification system must also be in place so that staff are quickly informed that a child has been placed in the box.
Outer doors on the box automatically lock when an infant is placed and a door on the inside of the box gives medical personnel access to the baby from inside the building.
– This child was legally, safely, anonymously and lovingly placed inside a Safe Haven Baby Box, and that says a lot about the parent, says Kelsey.
